Knitting-machine.



13. T. STEBER.

KNITTING M AGHINE.

TION FILED NQV. 29. 1910.

Patented May 20, 1913.

I3 SHEETS-SHEET l,

' B. T. STEBER.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 29, 1910.

1,062,557. Patented May 20, 1913 a SUXPETS-SHEET 2 Wa /M4. a.

way/W- 1'1 STEBBR.

KNITTING MACHINE, .APPLIUATRON HIIEP 240V. 29. 1910 1,962,557. PatentedMay 20, 1913 6 SHEETS SHEBT 3 B. T. STEBER.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1910.

Patented May 20, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4 0 m w M H Jtaau:

B. T. STEBER.

KNITTXNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.2D .1910

Patented May 20, 1913.

5 SHEETSSHEET 5 awveu fo'c Q/Vitmemo .m M w UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

BERNARD T. STEBER, OF UTICA, HEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE STEBER MACHINECOMPANY, OF U'I'IGA, NEW YGRK, A CQRPORATION OF NEW YORK.

KNITTING--MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 20. 1 91 3.

Application filed November 29, 1910. Serial No. 594,803.

To allwhom if may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD T. STEBER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Machines; and ldo hereby declare the following to be a full. clear. and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it nppertains to make and in the foruuition of the ribs,and the fabric 1 a a whole presenting a single entity, the webs of whichare not independent.

\Vith this and further objects in view as w ill be in part hereinafterstated and in part will become obvious. the invention c on1- prisesccrtuin novel constructions, CORlbH1t1- tions nnd'arrnngcments of partsas wi l bi. herein specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewo'f aknitting; machine mulmuying the features of the n-eseni inrcnlion. Figs.'2 and I are vertical, central :-4"lllii=w theretln'ough. one beingtaken at right angles to the other. and parts being broken away. the(ii-Lil cums with the dial cup imnoved. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic viewillustrating the cylintlw and diail needles and came de I vcloped as anextension or on a flat plane.

'l ig. (3 is u fragmentary top plan of the dial Fig. l is :1 top planview of 5 cup, indicating a method of adjustment of certain iiiul coins.tion of a. section of Fabric produced by the niuchine and proje tediron] :1 section of fabric such as constitutes the hose or two-- \Hlbt'uhric from which the ribbed fabric is Fig. 7 is a view in elem Iiornied. the two sections of fabric uifordiiif cxzunplc of an embodimentof the invention, l

a knitting machine is shown in the uccon'r pouring drawings which isparticularly well adapted to produce the form of fabric illusi trated atthe right of Figs. 7 and 8. However, it is obvious that the invention isnot limited to this particular example, but coinprehends all mechanicalequivalents and substitutes.

For a definite and detail understanding of the embodiment of theinvention illustrated. reference will be had to the accompanyingdrawings in which-- 4 1. indicates the needle cylinder mounted upon andfixed to 12%"? bed plate 2 sustained by bracket 3 carrie by standurd 4.Stand urd 4 may be supported on any suitable base 5 and extends abovethe bracket 3 and is provided with a. cross piece 6, and a pendentrigidly connected supporting member 7. Fixed to the lower end of themember 7 is a collsrB, and surrounding the member 7 imniediaitely abovecollar 8 and resting thereon i the dial 9. which may be clumped and thusrigidly connected to the member 7, by set. screws 19, 10. Above the dialis the dial cum ring 11 fixed to (and carried by the dial cap 12, whichcup is in turn carried by a sleeve 13 revolubly surround ng the supporting member 7, the sleeve 1 being in turn surrounded by and connected toa collar 14. set screws 15, 15, clamping the collar and sleeve to ether.The collar 14 is connected by redial arms 16 to vertical post 17, whichin turn have their lower ends fixed to the operating ring lil rotzitiely mounted in the bed plate 2 and provided with the operating gear 19adapted to be driven in the usual manner by a beveled gear notillustrated. The cylinder cairn ring, 20 surrounds the cylinder 1 nnd'ismounted upon and fixed to ring 18 for. being driven thereby. Thecvlinder is g'froovcd vertically for the reception and guidance ofcylinder needles, which needles are divided into two sets a and a".

the needles of one set alternating with the I n edles oi the otherthroughout the cylinder. The dial is grooved rudi lllv for the Til 313tion and guidance ot :liul needles, which nre divided similnrl into sets5 and 7/. the needles of one set alternat ng throughout the dial withthe needles of the other set. The needcs of the rc pectiviisets both inthe cylinder and dial may be distinguished by any of the well knownmeans of separating needles into sets, but for ciearness and fncil it)of illustration, I have selected long and shortnccclles asrepresentative of the two sets, in each needle bed, and in this connecllt 5: Mil be observed that the needle beds at illustrated cylinder anddial may muons other forms.

l )ial cap 13 carries t'our yarn feeds 23 and El. the mounting of eachon the cap being preferably adjustable: as illustrated. ()bviously, anymultiple of the feeds illustri-itt-d may be utilized, but for clearnessof (llSClt'lStlZQ only four have been shown, and on straight machinesbut two feeds would be 'rcquircd Where the taking of the. yarn occursonly once with each movement of the parts in one direction.

The needles of the cylinder and dial are each divided into two as forinstance, long and short needles, the long needles in each needlecarrier being actuated by certain cams and the short needles by othercams. Obviously, this method of dividing the needles into sets may bemodified as preferred, but; for facility'of description and illustrationthe set of long cylinder needles will be referred to as set a; the setof long dial needles 7;; the set of short cylinder needles as set It.and the set of short dial needles as set I)". These needles may, ofcourse,- be arranged nmnerically in What ever clusters or groups theparticular operator may" select, but for facility of illustration, andas a preferred emruidimcnt, the lon needles in each needle bed have beenindicated as disposed in successive alternation with the ncedlcs of theshort set. and for the production of the fabric hereinafter describedthe same number of, needles is utilized in each set as in any other set.Another important feature of the arrangement of the needles resides inthe fact, which will be obvious from a study of Fig. 5;- ot the drawing,that. any one long needle of the dial operates in the c-1pace between along and short needle of the cylinder, beiu a ranged, for instance, tooperate at i left of the long cylinder'ncedle and vowscrpicntly attheright of the short cylinder needle, and each short; dial needle issimilarly arranged to operate in the space between each two of thecylinder needles, as for instance. at the left of a particular longcylinder needle and at the right. of the adj-i cut short cylinderneedle.

As clearly seen in Fl i. 4 and 5, the dial nccdlcsare actuated by (rainstimed relative to the action of the cams of the cylinder as well as tothe disposition of the respective yarn feeds, thcre being a cam 21 and acam 21 for successive actuation of the needles of set 6, the remainderof the cam path for needles I) being disposed for preventing operationand for holding the saixl needles in a retracted condition, While cams23 and 533 an: disposed 'for actuating the needles ofthe set I)succossivtlv, and the cam path of the needles 32"15 shaped to leave theneedles 5- inactive and retracted during the ren'iaintler of therotation of the dial cap from the can]. 23" to the cam 23. Of course,each cam 21, 2t", :23 and 2? is made up of the pair of cam surfacesnecessary for effecting a knitting operation, that is a needle pushingout or projecting cam surface, and a needle retracting or stitching camsurface, both surfaces for facility being herein referred to as a camvin order to facilitate rendering certain of the dial needles inactive attimes, as for instance, the set I), the projecting cam sur faces of cams23 and 23" are made adjust.- ahle by having the material of the cam ringll cut, awa at the back or inside of such surfaces, as indicated at- E2leaving adjustable portions 25, of the cam ring outside of such cut-awayportion. Each portion is connected to the dial cap 12, as clearly seenin Fig. 6, by a pair of adjustable set screws or bolts 25*, 25,extending through slots 25, 25", in the dial cap 12, whereby, byloosening screws 25", portions 25 may .he adjusted inwardly sutlicicutlyto cause the short dial needles to remain inactive and to take no yarnwhatever. The cams 23 and 23" as illustrated each has an auxiliary orapproach cam portion 25 leading up to the respective portion 25, and toinsure against any undesired movement of the short needles, each of suchauxiliary portions 25 is rendered adjustable by retaining set screws orbolts 25, extending through slots 95 25 in the dial cap, each set screw25 having its lower end threaded into the respective portion and its upper end provided with the usual head en'- gaging the upper surface ofthe dial cap in the same manner as screws 25. When adjusting the camsfor throwing the short dial needles out of operative condition, thescrews 25"". are loosened, portions 25 mo ed inwm'dly, the screws 2moving in the slots iii)". and. when the portions 25 have been movedsutlirieutly innardly, the screws 25 are tightened so that their headsengage the upper surface of the dial cap, and the threaded lower endsdraw the portions 25 tightly in position. The portions 25 are thensimilarly adjustedinwardly, the adjustment of tlaportions 25 occurringprior to the adjustment of the portions 25 owing to the lapping: otthelatter over the former. 'lo rci stahlish t ic operative condition of theshort. dial needles. the rain portions 525" are first rcadjustcl totheir outer position, and then cam portions 25 are corrcspondiuglyreadjusted. ()liviously the short dial needles have been selected merelyfor purposes of illustration, and the same clloctive adjustment of theactuating cams of the other set of dial needles may be provided instead.

By reference to Fig. 5, it will be seen that below cams 21 the cylinderis provided with a cam 22" for actuating the set of needles o means? orlong cylinder needles. Beneath can. 21' a cylinder earn 24 is providedfor netuating the short cylinder needles or set a. while beneath earn 23of the dial a mini 22 proi'ided for the cylinder for actuating the long:cylinder needles or set. it, and beneath earn it of the dial a cylindercam 24 is provided for actuating the short cylinder needles or set a.Thus in o}'|eration earns 22 and .21 cooperate to actuate the needles ofthe sets It and b at yarn feed 21, While earns 34 and 21" cooperate toactuate the sets of needles a and b at feed 22. Then cams Q2 and 23cause the cooperation of needles (1 and I, at feed 23, followed by theaction of cams 524 and 23 causing the coope 'ation of needles (1 and bat feed 24. Thus the operations of the machine are naturally dividedinto two distinct units. one represented by the successive operations ofthe short dial needles, or one set of dial needles, first with respectto the long cylinder needles. or one set of cylinder needles. and thenwith respect to the short cylinder needles, or the other set of cylinderneedles. The other unit of operation consists of the actuation of theother set of dial needles relative to the cylinder needles,as forinstance, the short dial needles acting first with respect o the longcylinder needles and then with respect to the short cylinder needles.Either one of these two complete units may be eliminated by the removalor rendering inactive of a respective set of dial cams, as for instance,the throwing out of action of the cams 2.. and whereupon the other unitof operation may continue and will produce another form of fabric, notherein illustrated, but embodying a product of one species of the genusof the present invention. To again knit the more complex fabric. such asseen in Figs. 7 and 8. it is only necessary to move the portions 25 and525* to the position for rendering cams 29- and 23 active.

in operation. for elearness of illustration. it should he understoodthat the two sets of cylinder needles when knitting alone at all fouryarn feeds and Without the presence of the dial at. all. alternate feedsbeing taken by a ne set only. and the other alternate feeds by i theother set only. will produce a fabric comprised of two plain. flat Webs.such as is illustrated at T. at. the left of Figs. 7 and It is. ofcourse. understood that the function of a dial needle in an ordinaryribber is to knit Wales of loops in the ei'inne tintr yarn or sinkerWales between the cylinder needle wales which thus produces a rib. lVhenbut one unit of operation is being carried out. as by the throwing outof operation of cams 23* and 23", the active dial needles not first withrespect to the Web being made by one set of cylinder needles. and thenwith respect to the web being made by the other set of cylindcrneedles.so that the first loop on a given i i l l r l l l l l l l l l l l dialneedle will be drawn from the sinker Wale; connecting the needle walesof one or" the basic webs. and the next loop on the same dial needle wil be drawn from the next ulier Wale of the other basic Web. whereby therib produced by a particular dial needle will be composed of successivealternate loops of )zttn llllilillrlf up the two independent needlewales on the outer or cylinder face of the fabric.

in the knitting of ordinary ribbed fabric. it is common to feed yarn tothe. cylinder needles and then when they rise to pull the ribbing walesby the dial needles from the sinker Wales connecting the cylinder needlewales. but obviously a com erse relation in the action of the needlesmay be provided. and the same mechanical action will occur. one set ofneedles producing the basic fabri and the other set drawing in thesinker wales to make the fabric ribbed instead of plain stitch. Ofcourse, where a machine is actually making ribbed fabric there is nopoint in the fabric Where the plain Web is ap parent. as each course isknit into a rib as it progresses. so that the reference to the two plainwebs herein merely bears .out a theory of operation which facilitates anunder standing of the construction of the machine and its functions. Ifat any time all of the dial needles were thrown out of action, thecylinder needles would produce the two dis tint-t inter-looped. fiatwebs and as soon as the dial needles were placed in action again theribs would again appear. the two Webs being iuterllnit into a singleribbed Web, and

in the instance of the operation of but one set of dial needles. eachneedle of that set pulls :2 loop from a sinker Wale of one web ol thebasic fabric at one side of one cylinder needle. and then pulls a loopfrom the next sinker Wale of the other Web of the basic fabric at theother side of the adjacent cyliiuler needle of the other set. stance.where only the long dial needles are operating. one long dial needlewill pull a loop at one ide of one long cylinder needle. so to the rightthereof. and will then pull its next loop at the other side. say to theleft. of the adjacent hort cylinder needle. The same is true where onlythe short dial needles operate, It will thus be noted that by reason otthe lelntiW positirming of the dial and c linder needles, the threadconstituting the stitches hit-h are drawn in by the dial need has toform needle Wales producing loops in the inner t'nce of the fabric dscribes lines similar to the outline of an ordinary saw tooth. that is.haying a long inclined strand or sinker Wale extending one way. and ashort strand or sinker Wale disposed at an angle thereto, so that thesaw tooth has the appearance of leaning in a direction away from thelong strand or sinker male. as clearly seen at the right of Fig, 8 thesaw For in;

tooth. being drawn in by a needle of one set of dial needles int-liningin one direction when taken from a given set of cylinder needles and inan opposite direction when taken from the other set of cylinder'needles,that is inclining in one direction in one course and in anotherdirection in another course, whereby the long strands of one course arecaused to cross the short strands of the preceding course. This is truere gardless of whether all of the needles in the dial are operating ornot. i\n one dial needle will cti'ec't the same result so far as theproduction of the oppositely inclined saw tooth stitches i concerned byreason of its cooperation with at least one needle of each of the twosets of needles in the cylinder.

\Vhen the embodiment of the fabric seen at the right of Fig. 8 isjto beproduced, the cams 23* and 23 are thrown into action and all cylindercams are restored to oierative condition and yarnis supplied to eeds .23and Q4, whereupon the cylinder needles Will produce the same form ofbasic fabric T made up of the two simple plain fiat Webs, the cylinderneedles forming needle wales 106, as seen at the left of Figs. 7 and 8,and the dial needles will pull in loops from the sinker wales of suchbasic fabric, each dial needle pulling alternately from one web and thenfrom the other for producing a Wale 105. so that each dial needle waleis made up of first a loop of yarn from a sinker Wale 102 of one of thebasic. webs and then a loop of yarn from a sinker wale 101 of the otherbasic web, whereby the fabric seen at the left of Figs. 7 and 8 isproduced. Thus the knitting instruim-ntalities contemplated by thepresent improvement. and an embodiment of which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. are designed to produce a single intc gfral'thbri havingwithili its complete entity that which would have been twodistinct flat webs formed for instance on the cylinder needles after amanner common in the art, but which distinct entity of such webs hasbeen obliterated by the formation of a single inseparable fabric. eachof the ribs of one face of which is made up of loops of yarn from aplurality of ribs on the other face.

When all dial needles are operating, one set of dial needles pulls fromone basic web and then from the other. and then the second set of dialneedles repeats this operation at different feeds. As there are in thetwo dial sets an equal number of needles to the total number of cylinderneedles, there will be one dial needle wale produced for each cylinderneedle wale. making a oneand-one ribbed fabric. the cylinder or outerface of which has alternate independent ribs, while each rib. on theinner or dial face of the fabric is a composite of twoyarns, ne

from one cylinder needle Wale and the other from another adjacentindependent cylinder needle wale. Each dial needle Wale will contain thesame number of loops as any one cylinder needle wale and of the samelength. If yarn of one color is delivered from feeds 21 and 22 and ofanother color from feeds 23 and 24, the cylinder face of the fabric willdisplay alternate stripes of two colors, while the two colors willappear in each stripe or needle wale on the inner or dial face. one loopof each dial needle wale being of one color and the next loop in thesame wale being of the other color; thus alternating throughout thelength of the wale, and giving to the back or dial face of the fabric amotley appearance. If four differently colored yarns are employed. eachwale on the, cylinder face of the fabric will be formed of alternateloops of two colors, corresponding to the two respective. feeds, andeach wale on the dial face of the fabric will present first a loop of acolor of one cylinder needle wale and then a loop of a color of anadjacent independent cylinder needle wale. and alternating thusthroughout the length of the dial wale, and the next adthe other colorof the first cylinder needle wale and then a loop of the other color ofthe other or adjacent independent cylinder needle Wale, the motleystripes on the dial face of the fabric thus differing in color der faceof the fabric.

As there are only one-half as many dial needles in one set as there arecylinder needles in the two cylinder sets, the elimination of one dialneedle set from action with the elimination of its corresponding feeds,would, in producing the simpler form of fabric. cause each dial needleto pull in two loops for each single loop pulled in by any one cylinderneedle. one of the dial. needle loops being pulled first from one feedand the next dial needle loop from the other feed, while each cylinderneedle pulls in loops only from its own respective feed.

As a further exposition of the operation of the machine when producingthe oneand-one fabric illustrated at the right of Figs. 7 and S,referring more particularly to Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, it will beassumed that feed 21 is working with white yarn, feed 22 with blackyarn, feed 23 with red yarn and feed 24 with blue yarn. Starting withfeed 21, the white yarn will be taken by the long-cylinder needles andby the long dial needles, the two sets of needles pulling in oppositedirections and forming a zigzag line of yarn between feeds 21 and 22. Atfeed 22 the black yarn is pulled in opposite directions by the shortcylinder needles and by the long dial needles, thelong dialneedles thusinterjaccnt dial wale will present first a loop of effects from themotley stripes on the eylinall of the ribs of each appcaring, in thelooping the white yarn with the black yarn as soon as feed 2? reachesthe point of the first taking of white yarn. u'hcreat the long dialneedles cast oil the loops of white yarn and hold loops of black yarn.At feed 23, at the beginning of a knitting operation, the red yarn istaken by the other or new set. of dial needles, that, is the short dialneedles, and is taltcnliy the long cylinder needles, that is thoseneedles carrying loops of while yarn from feed the long" cylindcrneedles car-ting ff the white loops and iiiterloi'iping therewith thered yarn of feed 23. Going now to the. next feed, or feed 24. the sameshort dial needles will pull in loops from the blue yarn of feed 24 andcast off the loops of red yarn with which they have interloor 7, beblue, whereas the short cylinder needles taltc the blue yarninterlooping the same with the black yarn taken from fee and casting theloops of black yarn. ()f course, it is understood that in thusconsidering the operation, those sets of needles not referred torelative to a particular feed remain inactive and welt pending thearrival of the next feed. Thus at no point in the operation of themachine is there formed a section of fabric however small in which oneof the basic webs is independent of the other, but at every point assoon as an interlooping of yarns occurs sutlicient to constitute aportion of fabric such interlooping destroys and eliminates the distinctentities of the basic webs and produces a resulting integral ribbedfabric having its existence as a ribbed fabric developed at the expenseof the loss of the indc iiendence of such basic webs. After the takingof yarn from feed 24, the course or round f operation is complete, andthe next round begins and repeats the one just specified. s

I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to provideinslruz'nentalitics for knitting two independent webs to form a fabric,in one. instance one of the webs being ribbed and the other flat withthe needle wales of the. flat web appearing in the spaces between theribs oi the ribbed Web, and in the other instance the fabric beingconstituted of two independent webs each ribbed,

spaces between the ribs of the other Both of these fabrics however, areessentially distinguished by the maintenance of the distinctindependence of the basic webs which are not connected other than by theinterlocking resultant from the disposition of certain sinker wales ofone Web relative to the needle wales of the other web. such that thewebs may not be readily separated. Such fabrics, lunvever. beingdistinguished by the i indepeni'lcnco of the basic webs are n t to beconfused with the fabrics which the pri-zsent improved knitting machineis del signed to produce, the product of such improved knitting machinebeing essentially an integral structure in which the basic Webs areabsolutely dependent upon each other for the production and maintenanceof the ribbed nature of the fabric, and such basic webs may not,therefore, by any possiblc mutilation of the fabric be separated fromeach other except by the destruction of the ribbed nature of the fabricThus it becomes apparent that the independent webbed fabrics andmachines for producing the same represent one type of development, whilethe present improvements involve a diametrically opposite type.

It will be perfectly obvious to those familiar with the art that theinvention comprehends knitting instrumentalities capable of interloopingthe connecting yarns between ncedle wales of two plain stitch webs intoa wale on the opposite face from such needle wales, whereby a singleintegral fabric structure is produced possessing the characteristic ofribs, not formerly possessed, and deprived of the characteristic ofindependence of the webs; and such instrurnentalities may be developedin many embodiments susceptible of the production of widely varyingfabrics, all clearly falling within the intent 51nd spirit of theinvention.

Vi'hile throughout this description 1 have referred to the cylinderneedles as being adapted to form the basic fabric of two llat webs, andthe dial needles as drawing in the rib-making wales, it is obvious thatthe op eration may be performed conversely; that; is, the dial needlesmay be made to produce the basic fabric of two )lain, flat webs and theribs be formed there 'rom by the cylinder needles.

Variations in the relative number of sets of needles in the two carriersmay clearly be made within the spirit and scope of this invention, andto embody the invention particularly pointed out in some of the appendedclaims does not require that two sets of needles be provided in eachcarrier.

For the purposes of identity and facility of application of the terms ofthe appended claims to the elements of the particular embodiment hereindisclosed, the cylinder may be considered the first needle carrier andthe dial the second needle carrier, but this is not to be taken in anysens as a restriction of the scope of the claims which are intended toapply to such constructions Whether the same or a converse dispositionof parts is employed.

The fabric produced by the in Venlion herein set forth is disclosed andclaimed in my United Stateslietters Patrol .\'o. omens, granted March 1,[91.0.

What I claim is:--

l. In a. knitting machine, two needle carriers, two sets of needles inone carrier, two

' .of needles of the first mentioned carrier for for causing the needlesof the second carrier 'tc successively take from the yarns of both setsof needles of the first carrier for interlooping said yarns alternatelyinto needle wales.

9. In a knitting machine, a needle carrier, needles guided thereby, yarnfeeds coopersting with the needles, cams for actuating said needles insetsfor causing certain of the needles to knit independent yarn fromthat knit by the other set, and a second needle carrier, needles thereindesigned to pull said yarns in an o posite direction, to the directionof pull 0 the needles of the first needle carrier, and means foractuating the needles of the second carrier twice for each actuation ofany one. of the needles of the first mentioned carrier for causing theneedles of the second carrier to successively takejhe" yarn of the feedsof the two sets interlooping said yarns into needle wales in alternationat the opposite face of the fabric from the face on which appears theneedle Wales of the first needle carrier.

10. In a knitting machine two sets of needles, feeds therefor, means forcotiperatively actuating the needles and the feeds for causing theneedles of one set to knit'yarn from one feed, and causing the needlesof the other set to knit yarn from another feed, and a third set ofneedles, and means for actuating the third set of needles for causingthe needles thereof to knit at said feeds at each and every course, eachneedle of the third set being disposed to operate in the space between aneedle of the first and a needle of the second set so as to pull yarnfirst from one side of a needle of one set and then to pull yarn fromthe relatively other side of the adjacent needle of the other set.

11. In a knitting machine, two sets of needieafecds therefor, means forcooperatively actuating the needles and the feeds for causingthe needlesof one set to knit yarn from one feed, and causing the needles of theother set to knit yarn from another feedyand a third set of needlesdisposed for pulling loops in a different direction from the needles ofthe first two sets for producing ribs, and means for actuatingthe thirdset of needles for causing the needles theref to knit at said feeds.

12. In a knitting machine, a needle carrier, two sets of needlestherein, yarn feeds therefor, means for actuating said needles in setsfor causing the needles of the respective sets to knit only fromindependent yarns, a second needle carrier, needles guided thereby, andmeans for actuating the needles of the last-metnioned carrier fordrawing loops alternately from the independent yarns into the sameneedle wales at that face of the fabric opposite the face on whichappears the needle Wales of'the needles of the first-mentioned carrier,the relative numbers and operations of the several needles being suchthat the total number of loops drawn to one face of the fabric is thesame as that drawn to the other 'face thereof.

13. In a knitting machine, the combination of a cylinder, needlestherefor, means for actuating said needles in alternating sets, meansfor feeding a plurality of yarns to each set, a dial, needles therefor,and means for actuating the dial needles in sets corresponding to thecylinder needle sets for knitting successively and alternately from theyarns fed to the cylinder needles, said actuating means imparting toeach dial needle set a plurality of knitting operations in succession,while the other dial needle set remains inactive.

14. In a knitting machine, the combination of a cylinder, needlestherefor, means for actuating said.needles in alternating sets, meansfor feeding a plurality of yarns independently to each set, a dial,needles therefor, and means for actuating said dial needles in alternatesets for causing one set of the dial needles to knit first from yarnfrom one set of cylinder needles and then to knit from yarn from theother set of cylinder needles successively, and causing the other set ofdial needles to knit from another yarn from the first-mentioned set ofcylinder needles and then to knit from another yarn from the other setof cylinder needles successively.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

BERNARD 'l STEBER.

lVitnesses OWEN F. LUKER, EDGAR M. KITCHIN.

